Stencil-sheet.



L. s. MEUSER. STENCIL SHEEL APPLICATION FILED OCT. 21. I915- Patantedl NW. 20, 191?.

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- 7720622/5/7 llqyd [hf/fame?" LLOYD G. MEUSEB, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 21, 1915. Serial No. 57,112.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LLOYD G. MEUSER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stencil-Sheets, of which the following is a specification. I

The present invention relates to the form and arrangement of a stencil sheet adapted for use in connection with duplicating machines for the making of multiple copies.

The objects of the invention are to provide a member, independent of the backing sheet, for reinforcing that edge of the stencil sheet which is secured to the pins of the duplicating machine. and for protecting the stencil sheet along the striking line.

A further object of the invention is to arrange a series of holes or openings across the reinforced edge of the sheet, whereby said sheet may be aflixed or attached to the various types ofmachines now on the market.

.And a further object of the invention is to provide means for preventing slippage betwen the stencil sheet and reinforcing and protecting member.

The invention further consists in the features of, construction and combination of parts hereinafteridescribed and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective of the stencil sheet of the present invention with the reinforcing and protecting member thereon;

Fig. 2 is a perspective of that end of the stencil sheet which is reinforced;

, Fig. 3 is a perspective of the cap or sheath which is adapted to be slipped over said reinforced end; and

- Fig. 4 is a cross section through the reinforced end of the sheet, with the cap or sheath placed thereon.

In the art to which the present invention relates, the stencil sheet is first cut and then inserted in the duplicating machine. In placing it in the machine, one edge of the stencil is put upon certain pins or studs forming a part of the machine structure. It is necessary to, reinforce this edge of the stencil in some manner in order to avoid a tearing of the stencil sheet during the operation of the machine; and it is deemed desirable, in practice, to extend this reinforcement to a point where the contact is first made between the stencil mounted on the machine and the paper, which is commonly known as the striking line, as, otherwise, a

tearing or mutilation of the stencil along this line may be produced when the machine is operated.

It is desirable, moreover, to have this stencil sheet entirely free from the backing which is used when the stencil is being cut,

' the nature of which is Well known to those skilled in the art, by reason of the fact that in removing this backing. which is necessary previous to the placing of the stencil in the machine, a tearing of the stencil is apt to occur, whereas, if the stencil is free and disconnected from all other parts, its removal from the backing for the purpose of placing it in the machine can be accomplished without any danger of tearing. And for the acmama Nov. so, 119117.

complishment of the above objects, the present invention has been created.

Referring to the drawing, the invention is shown as applied to an ordinary stencil sheet 5, which can be of any material suitable for anarticle of this character. Along one edge of the sheet, I place a coating 6 of shellac or similar substance. This tends to increase the tensile strength of the stencil along this edge, and also acts as a cementive compound under certain conditions, which will be hereinafter set forth. Over this shellacked edge, I place a cap or sheath 7,

which can be made of any suitable material, and is of a length which will extend down beyond the point on the stencil sheet known as the striking line, which has been heretofore referred to. 4

This sheathor cap is not connected in any way, shape, or manner, to the backing sheet which is used during the cutting of the stencil, and it may be inserted when the stencil is being cut, or inserted afterward, as is deemed most practical. But, in any event, the stencil after being cut is freely detached from the backing sheet, so that its removal from such backing sheet for the purpose of inserting it in the duplicating machine is never attended with any danger of tearing, as is the case where the stencil sheets are fixedly secured to the backing in some way or manner.

This sheath or cap acts to further strengthen that edge of the stencil sheet which is inserted upon the pins of the duplicating machine, so as to prevent tearing by such pins; and it also acts to place a protecting member at the striking line of the stencil, preventing a mutilation of the stencil along this line. After the stencil Hill sheet, with the cap inserted thereon,'has been placed in the machine, the pressure and friction due to the action'of the machine will heat the shellacked end of the sheet to an extent whereby the shellac will become sticky and the cap will thus become adhered to said shellacked surface. This insures against any slippage of the stencil sheet with respect to the cap, which would be undesirable, in that by such slipping the stencil sheet might become torn.

There are at present upon the market a number of types of duplicating machines, and each of these types has the pins thereof of a different nature and arranged in a different manner. In the present invention, I form a series of holes along that edge of thestencil sheet which is shellacked, and a series of corresponding holes in the cap piece, and these holes are of a configuration and arrangement whereby the stencil sheet may be employed with any form of duplicatlng' machine, thus makin it of a universal type. The holes, as il ustrated, consist of two outer holes 8, of similar formation, two holes 9, of similar formation, arranged between the outer holes, but of a different formation from-the holes 8, two holes 10, of similar formation, arranged be tween each of the outer holes 8 and each of.

formation, which formation is also similar to the formation of the holes 10. Therefore, with the edge of the sheet punched in this manner, the stencil can be applied or used in connection with all of the standard types of duplicating machines now upon the market, which, obviously, would be of material advantage. The cap 7 is arranged with a similar set of holes, and the holes in the cap will register with the holes in the shellacked end of the sheet when the cap is inserted thereon.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the invention is one which gives the desired strengthening to the edge of the stencil and protects the striking line without having any permanent connection between the stencil and backing, so that in removing the back for the purpose of inserting the stencil sheet in the duplicating machine, the

danger of tearing the sheet is eliminated;

ployed, an in fact, is only limited by the terms of the appended claim.

I claim:

In combination with a flexible stencil sheet, an envelop-shaped cap-piece adapted to abut against one end edge and both side edges of the upper end portion of said stencil sheet, and adapted to lie in close engagement with the front and back faces of said sheet at said upper end, there being correspondin holes extending through said cap-piece and the body of the stencil sheet, said cap-piece when fitted over the end of the stencil being centered by engagement with the end and side edges of the stencil sheet to bring the holes in the cap-piece and stencil sheet into alinement, ,a layer of shellac on the upper end of said stencil sheet to stiffen and strengthen the same at that point, said shellac and cap-piece having a non-adhesive engagement, whereby the cap-piece is freely removable prior to the insertion of the stencil in the duplicating machine, and said shellac softening under the friction of operation when the stencil is placed in the duplicating machine and said machine operated, whereby there is then formed an adhesive connection between said cap-piece and stencil sheet; substantially as described.

LLOYD G. MEUSER. 

